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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Allergies and the Immune System

Our Immune System is responsible for defending against Allergies.

The technical description of how the Immune System defends against allergies is exactly that technical. A great article discussing allergies is at How Stuff Works.  The high points of the article are:


  1. Things that cause trouble in our bodies are called "antigens"
  2. Some white blood cells (lymphocytes) work to defend against antigens
  3. White blood cells are formed in our bones (bone morrow)
  4. T Cell (a type of lymphocyte) attacks body cells that have been infected or damaged by antigens 
  5. B Cell (a type of lymphocyte) tell immune organs (like lymph nodes) to produce a protein called antibodies.
  6. Antibodies are specifically created to defeat antigens, like a lock and key
  7. Each allergen is seen by our body as a different antigen, and requires a different antibody
  8. Histamines are the memory response of your immune system to reoccurring antigens/allergens
  9. This specific process against allergies is called the allergic inflammatory response.  
To pause... I remember hearing on Allergy Medication commercials that they are "histamine blockers." That means they stop your body's attempt to respond to the antigens. 
    
The truth is that anyone who has allergies is miserable during their specific allergy season. The focus should be to improve your bodies strength and resilience to these antigens. Just like we take vitamins to prevent sickness, there is an option to encourage and strengthen our bodies immune response to allergens. 
Allergena - try the Zone specific to you.